


this is you, this is me, this is all we need

by interstellarbeams



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: Awkwardness, Domestic Fluff, F/M, JJ is typically spontaneous, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26670118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/interstellarbeams/pseuds/interstellarbeams
Summary: JJ can’t contain his excitement to ask Kie to marry him.
Relationships: JJ & Kiara (Outer Banks), JJ Maybank and Kiara Carrera, JJ/Kiara (Outer Banks)
Comments: 32
Kudos: 67





	this is you, this is me, this is all we need

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Lara for looking this over. I’m waiting on your angsty version of this btw! 😉 
> 
> Just something small to give me a break from my longer WIPs. ☺️
> 
> Ten points to Hufflepuff if you can tell me the three films I’m talking about in this fic. 😁
> 
> Title is from _Hold Me While You Wait_ by Lewis Capaldi. 
> 
> Kudos and comments are appreciated! 💕

The laugh track has nothing on Kie, whose face lights up as she laughs at the ridiculous plot line of the episode they’re watching. There’s something unique about watching someone else enjoy their favorite thing — like seeing into their heart without them having to reveal anything themselves. 

He’s been thinking about it a lot lately. Unable to sleep as he thinks about popping the question, the box shut away in the glove compartment of his truck, somewhere he knows she will never look. Now it rests in his pocket and he can’t cut the feeling of anticipation but he’s also nervous and slightly scared. 

He’s overthinking it, he knows. He loves her and he wants her to be his, for everyone else to know and see. The fact that they live together now and she is technically his partner in everything else just isn’t enough. He needs to ask her. 

“Marry me.”

“What? What did you say?” She turns to him  
and there’s still a smile on her face, leftover from the laughter that had been directed at the episode of The Office streaming on their tv. 

“I said, ‘marry me.’” 

Kie snorts, the smile that had started to fade returns, lifting her cheeks again as she glances over at him. 

“Good one.”

JJ doesn’t know whether he should be annoyed that she is blowing him off or drop it but he doesn’t want to drop it, he wants her to know that he’s serious.

“I’m not joking, Kiara.”

He thinks she’s rolling her eyes but there’s only one light on in the room. The lamp was bought secondhand and is notorious for not giving out enough light so he's not sure.

“I’m being serious.” He shifts so that he can see her better, the bluish light from the tv illuminating one side of her face as she turns her head. 

“You’re never serious about anything.” 

“I’m serious about you.” He thinks he should probably be offended that she thinks he can’t be serious. Yes, at times he can be a little irreverent and he makes jokes about everything, including how they actually became a couple — she says it’s his irresistible charm and his persistence, he claims it’s because she couldn’t make it work with John B _or_ Pope. Not that she had shared more than a kiss with either of them, but he likes to bring it up occasionally because he knows it gets under her skin. 

But this time JJ has irrefutable proof that he isn’t messing around, so he reaches into the pocket of his cargo shorts to pull out a dark blue velvet box.

He’s watched plenty of romantic comedies with Kie — some cheesy ones from the 1980s where the guy’s best friend becomes his secret admirer, the one from the 1990s where the couple proves guys and girls can’t be friends and not become romantic ( _HA_ ) and the early 2000 film where the nerdy teenage girl transforms herself into a hot thirty something with a shitty personal life and wishes herself back in time. He’s seen the movie proposals and usually every girl gasps at the sight of a ring box, but not Kie. Her dark eyes watch him warily, almost suspiciously, like she’s expecting a toy snake to jump out, when he opens it to reveal an actual engagement ring.

She still doesn’t look impressed and JJ’s starting to get nervous, palms sweating as he struggles to find the right words to say.

“It’s an antique setting that I picked up in a thrift store because I know how you’re a huge believer in repurposing items. And— and I had the diamond evaluated to make sure it wasn’t a blood diamond — that it was ethically sourced. I wanted it to be perfect... don’t— don’t you like it?”

He thinks maybe he should have waited, shouldn’t have blurted it out during a tv episode that’s still blaring in the background. Maybe he should have let her get dressed up and taken her out to one of the fancy restaurants that have cropped up over the last few years on Main Street. Asked her in a calm, clear voice, down on one knee while romantic violin music played in the background. He wanted the moment to be perfect but he couldn’t wait, and now he’s wondering if _she_ might have wished this moment was different. 

She’s wearing one of his old ratty t-shirts with the hole ripped in the hem from when he had jumped from the trellis outside her childhood bedroom window and gotten stuck, there’s a yellow stain right in the middle of the chest where he had dropped mustard on it one Fourth of July weekend at a cookout at the Chateau and there’s a splatter of paint on the shoulder from when they had decided, on a whim, to repaint the tiny bathroom in the apartment. Her hair is piled on top of her head in a curly mess and he can’t see the shorts she’s wearing for the length of his shirt, but it doesn’t bother him. She could be dotted in acne cream and smell of the eucalyptus oil that she uses every night on her skin (he really hates that smell)... but she’s Kie, the love of his life, and that’s all that matters to him. 

He can still hear her muffled laughter from that night when he had to yank his shirt from the newly erected trellis, trying to escape her dad’s notice one night when she was supposed to be studying, and he knows that all he ever wanted to do was make her happy, whether it’s because she’s laughing at something stupid that he’s done or because he makes her smile the same way she makes him feel loved and accepted, like it’s _effortless_. 

JJ never knew loving someone could be so easy, but maybe that’s why they work because she has so much love to give and he soaks it up like a sprawling oak tree reaches its branches towards the sun. 

A sudden embarrassing heat runs down his neck as she continues to stare at him without saying anything and he pulls his hand back, trying to push the ring box back into his pocket but it’s a weird angle with the way he’s sitting. He doesn’t know how he can live this down... does he just sit here and act like he didn’t ask her or should he pretend he had plans with John B that he just remembered and try to escape? That wouldn’t work for long though since they rent the apartment together. This is his home. 

He hadn’t thought this through and now he looks like an idiot. Stupid.

“Nevermind. I don’t know why I—“ He attempts to say but then she’s interrupting him, one hand reaching out to grasp a hold of his, the ring box still clutched tight in his fingers.

“No, I—“ A small laugh escapes her and now he feels even more stupid. He tries to stand to escape this mess that he’s made, a flush of chagrin staining his cheeks, but she grabs his arm and he allows her to pull him back down to the couch even though he can’t bear to look her in the eyes. 

“JJ. JJ, look at me? I wasn’t laughing at you. I just— I wasn’t expecting this and I was surprised. That’s all.”

JJ glances at her sideways, the earnest look in her brown eyes telling him that it’s alright, but he looks back down at his hands. He picks at a piece of dry skin on the side of his thumb instead of looking at her. He can’t help it, this feeling of rejection and hurt. He’s been through it so many times before he’s not even sure why it still hurts, but it does.

“Ask me again? Please.” Her hand is warm and soothing on his bare arm where she rests it and he wants to grab it with his own, to tighten his fingers around hers until they’re as tightly intertwined as their lives. 

“Are you sure? I mean, we can pretend this never happened and go back to the show.”

“JJ, stop being a dumbass and ask me again.” Her eyebrows are quirked and the stubborn tilt to her lips is familiar. He knows this look, loves it in fact, even if it typically means he’s in trouble for not looking before he leaps. This must be a leap moment.

He turns towards her, the bright sparkle of her eyes in sharp contrast to the feeling of dread that had settled in his stomach when she hadn’t answered at first.

“Kie? Will you marry me? I know I’ve made a mess of this by blurting it out like an ass but I want to sit on this couch with you and watch you watch your favorite show knowing that when we head to bed later that you’ll press you face into my neck and blow hot air against my skin while freezing my ankles with your ice cold toes. I want to make you breakfast every morning even if I make your coffee too strong then burn the eggs _and_ the toast. I want to watch as you fold a pile of laundry cause you always look so cute when you stick your tongue out when you try to fold the fitted sheets straight like you saw in that video on Youtube. You’re exciting and sexy and words that I couldn’t even dream of knowing. You’re just... my best friend and I love you more than I could ever explain. It’ll probably be an adventure and knowing me it will probably be messy, insane and you’ll want to strangle me at least once a week, but as long as we’re together I won’t care. So marry me so I can be your idiot husband and you can be my gorgeous way-too-smart-for-me wife.” 

“JJ.” Her voice is soft and there are tears glistening in her eyes. He must have said something right because she’s leaning forward and placing her lips against his in the softest kiss he has ever received.

“Is that a yes?” He manages to ask when she pulls back though it feels like his tongue is stuck to the roof of his mouth and his heart is racing so hard it should be a mile down the road instead of nestled in the correct anatomical spot in his chest.

“Yes. Yes! I want you to be my idiot husband.” She laughs this time but instead of it making him feel small, he feels giant like the huge wave of a monsoon about to rip across the shore — like the love coursing through him could be destructive but it’s only fierce and insanely strong, not violent. 

He fumbles with the box trying to get the ring out but the warmth of her fingers on his cheeks as she leans her forehead against his and the closeness of her lips tempting him to taste them, distracts him and he nearly drops it when it finally comes free from the velvet cushion.

The band slides over her finger like it’s supposed to be there — _thank god it’s the right size_ — and the tears on her cheeks glisten almost as bright as the diamond that rests in the center of the thrifted setting.

“I love it. I love _you_. I— I don’t— I don’t know what to say. I’m just so happy.”

“Not as happy as I’ll be with you as my wife.” JJ replies, not even meaning anything by it but she pulls back, a teasing smile tugging at her lips. 

“Are you trying to make this a competition?” She asks. It hurts to smile so big and his lips are trembling at the corners because of it but he can’t help but tease back.

“Why not? We’re always like this. We shouldn’t stop now.” He rubs his thumb along her cheek, the softness of her skin against his never gets old and he wants to kiss her and kiss her until her smile and his are gone but the warmth of their feelings ignites like a wildfire. 

“Well, maybe we should take this competition to the bedroom, Maybank.”

“I think that’s one of your better ideas, Carrera.” He teases back, though a warmth is curling in his belly at the thought of making love to his fiancée. 

Soon she won’t be a Carrera though he’s pretty sure she won’t get rid of her maiden name completely. She’s a well known and published author with articles in several scientific magazines and is dedicated to her field, so for professional reasons she’ll probably keep her name but for right now she’s not _legally_ his. 

He loves the feel of her fingers against his as they interlock, the new engagement ring cool against his fingers as she pulls him down the hall and towards the bedroom. They leave the tv on but he doesn’t care, all his attention focused on the beautiful woman who is his everything.

Her laughter fills him up with sunshine as she whirls around to toss her arms around his neck and make good on her promise of competition as she ups the ante with a quick nip to his bottom lip which practically has propelled him from zero to a hundred in seconds flat. 

They knock into a few walls as they get distracted by each other, her lips flush against his like she’s trying to breath him in. He has to pull back to catch his breath as she unbuttons his shirt and he almost wishes she would rip it, just to make it quicker.

Happiness is a fire that burns in his belly, shooting out through his veins like fireworks and setting alight everything within him. The feeling of her body pressed up against his is like coming home and it’s a feeling he hopes he never gets used to.


End file.
